Pastor commits suicide after being accused of diverting church funds

A 49-year-old pastor, identified only as Bassey, has reportedly slashed his throat after he was accused by his church members of diverting funds for personal use.

It was learnt that the incident happened last Monday around 5am on Abari Street in the Mulero, Dopemu area of Lagos.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the suicide was reported to the police at the Dopemu divison, and policemen deposited his remains in a morgue, while his wife, called Iya Emmanuel, and son, Emmanuel, were arrested in connection with the incident.

It was learnt that the pastor had written a short note, stating that his family was not complicit in his death.

A police source told our correspondent that preliminary investigation revealed that the pastor was frustrated after he was accused by the church of diverting the undisclosed sum.

“The knife used by the pastor to kill himself has been recovered. He also wrote that he killed himself. We learnt that he was accused by his church of diverting money. He was probably frustrated because his neighbours described him as a God-fearing and honest person. We are still trying to find out the actual amount involved,” the source said.

A neighbour, who identified herself as Seun Oladimeji, said the pastor had been awake in the night, walking around the passage. She said a note, which read, “I, myself, not my wife”, was found in the family’s room after his death.

“I don’t know whether he (pastor) did it because of the money issue, but he and his wife were very friendly. He woke up around 3am that day. I learnt his wife and son, Emmanuel, later begged him to go back to bed. At about 5am, the woman screamed for help. We all gathered in their room and saw blood gushing out of the pastor’s neck.

“Unknown to the woman, he hid a knife which he used to slash his throat. Before he died, he wrote on a piece of paper ‘I, myself, not my wife’. I can say it anywhere that it was not his wife who killed him. The son was just crying; he was not himself. Both of them were arrested.”

Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the pastor and his wife had a good relationship with each other, adding that she did not believe his family members had a hand in his death.

He said, “Pastor helped his wife with her hair before the incident. They really loved each other. Most times, while the wife washed clothes, he would be spreading it on the line.”

Another resident, Mr. Olatunde Olasunbo, said the pastor moved to the area with his family two years ago.

“I did not know his church, but he was God-fearing and very nice. He was always with his bible. Even if he diverted the church funds, suicide is not the solution. He and his wife related like siblings. They moved to this area two years ago,” he added.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident via a text message, adding that the case had been transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.

“Case transferred to the SDCI for further investigation,” she stated in the text.

Pastor commits suicide after being accused of diverting church funds

Drunk Lagos policeman kills twin brothers, their friend, himself

A drunk policeman, Stephen James, on Saturday shot dead three male customers at a hotel in the Ketu area of Lagos State.

The victims

SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that among the deceased were twin brothers identified as Taiwo and Kehinde Oyesunle and their friend known simply as Jeje. The twins were the only children of their mother.

The tragic incident; which happened outside the premises of Paulson Hotel on Anibaba Street around 4:20pm, threw the entire neighbourhood and its environs into chaos with passers-by and residents scampering in different directions.

According to eyewitnesses, trouble started when the police sergeant with Force number 217884, threatened to shoot customers if they failed to buy him an alcoholic drink. The policeman, who was said to be a habitual smoker of marijuana, however, felt offended after the victims – Taiwo, Kehinde and Jeje – cautioned him to comport himself as an adult and a responsible policeman.

The eyewitnesses said the policeman ambushed and killed the three young men, who were in their early 30s, as they stepped outside the hotel premises where they had gone to celebrate Jeje’s birthday.

When the gravity of his act dawned on him, the policeman reportedly shot himself in the chest.

A guest at the hotel, who witnessed the killings, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the policeman had boasted about wanting to kill people hours before the incident happened.

The customer, who identified himself only as Femi, said all efforts to pacify the policeman proved abortive as he kept fomenting trouble and harassing visitors with his gun all afternoon.

“I was in the bar when the policeman first came in and threatened to shoot customers if they failed to buy him drinks. He boasted that he felt like killing someone today, but other customers and I pleaded with him.

“When the three guys walked in and sat, he went to them and threatened them too. But the guys told him to calm down that they would take care of him but he should comport himself as a responsible police officer.

“Nobody knew he took offence with their statement. The police officer shot the three guys one after the other as they stepped outside the hotel before killing himself. The whole thing happened like a movie,” he said.

Another resident Ladipo Idowu told our correspondents that the policeman was known to foment trouble in the area.

He said James usually fired his gun indiscriminately and the residents had warned the hotel authorities to caution him but nothing was done about it.

Another eyewitness, Dada Salawu, said, he was passing by when he saw the policeman and the three friends exchanging words. He said hardly had he left the area when the policeman opened fire on the victims.

A former girlfriend to one of the slain twins told SUNDAY PUNCH that they were the only children of their parents.

The lady, who was inconsolable as she spoke to one of our correspondents, said the twins were still mourning the death of their father who passed away in June 2014 when their lives were cut short.

Refusing to have her picture taken, she said, “I called them very early on Saturday morning not to go outside their compound after I dreamt of seeing blood. I called them again at about 2:00pm to warn them. The twins, however, decided to drive a vehicle a relation had just bought at about 3:00pm. They drove to Paulson Hotel.”

The Sports Utility Vehicle which the victims drove was still parked in front of the hotel by the time our correspondents left the scene.

An angry mob, which later gathered at the scene of the tragedy, attempted to burn down the hotel and destroy properties within its premises.

As irate youths threw bottles and stones at the hotel, lodgers ran out of their rooms with their luggage and fled the scene. As at the time of filing this report, the hotel had been completely deserted by staff and guests.

The youths also wanted to burn the corpse of the policeman, but policemen, who later got to the scene pleaded with them.

Policemen led by the Divisional Police Officer of the Ketu Police Station arrived at the scene at about 5.30 pm to carry the corpses away.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joe Offor, confirmed the killings to our correspondents on the telephone. However, he said he had not yet received the full details of the incident.

DSP Joe Offor said, “The policeman was on duty at that hotel. He was attached to Mopol 22, Ikeja. He was drunk while on duty and he acted under the influence of alcohol.”

Efforts to speak with the management of the hotel on the incident proved abortive as it was deserted as of 6.30pm when one of our correspondents left the scene.

When one of our correspondents visited the home of the twins at No. 3, Dairo Street, Ketu, a sea of sympathisers were gathered, while friends of the victims vowed to revenge the killing. The entire neighbourhood was in tension with nearby hotels, drinking joints and shops closing for business earlier than usual.

Drunk Lagos policeman kills twin brothers, their friend, himself

Suicide bombers disguised as worshippers kill many in mosque

Dozens of worshippers were killed Thursday when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a mosque in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, witnesses said.

Bomb Scene

“All the people in the mosque died. Not a single one escaped,” said Muhtari Ahmadu, a trader near the scene.

“We counted 42 dead bodies outside the mosque,” added Amadu Marte, a vigilante supporting the security forces in the fight against the Islamist Boko Haram group, which has carried out repeated attacks in the region.

Borno state police confirmed that the mosque was hit by twin bombings but gave a lower toll of about 14 dead.

Following the explosions, the mosque collapsed and injured “many people praying”, the police said in a statement.

“Casualties have been evacuated to UMTH (University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital) and specialist hospitals in Maiduguri,” it added.

The bombers slipped into the mosque disguised as worshippers, witnesses said.

One of the attackers set off the first blast when he entered the mosque, they said. The second bomber detonated his explosives soon after, when many had rushed to the scene to help the first victims.

“When rescuers and sympathizers gathered in front of the place, the second one went off, killing many of them,” Marte said.

The blasts occurred around 6:30pm (1730 GMT) in Molai, in the western suburbs of Maiduguri, where worshippers had gathered for evening prayers, the witnesses said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but suspicion fell on Boko Haram, which was founded in Borno’s state capital Maiduguri in 2009.

The city has been hit repeatedly since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power on May 29 with a vow to crush the insurgency.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for three suicide attacks in the satellite towns of Kuje and Nyanya outside Nigeria’s capital Abuja on October 2, which killed a total of 18 people and injured 41.

Nigeria’s military claims the Islamist militants are a spent force and that troops have driven them from their camps and occupied territory in the remote region.

But guerrilla-style attacks have continued, including across the border. At the weekend, 41 people were killed in triple explosions in Baga Sola, on the Chadian side of Lake Chad, where Nigeria meets Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

The four countries have launched a joint offensive against the Islamists.

Their mission received a boost on Wednesday when US President Barack Obama said he was deploying up to 300 military personnel to Cameroon for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations against Boko Haram insurgents.

At least 17,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million made homeless since Boko Haram began its bloody campaign for an

Suicide bombers disguised as worshippers kill many in mosque

Man hangs self over N18,000 loan

There was confusion at Oke Initea area of Osogbo, Osun State, on Tuesday, following the discovery of the remains of a 27-years-old man, Adekola Busari, who had hung himself.

Our Correspondent gathered that Busari, was indebted to a micro finance bank, but his wife had assisted in repaying the loan, remaining just N18,000 to balance up.

Although things were said to be down for the man, but it was not certain if the debt was the reason he had killed himself.

The deceased’s wife, Bidemi, was said to have discovered the corpse of her husband dangling inside their sitting room when she went to urinate early in the morning.

Amidst wailing,  the widow said her husband did not show any sign that he would kill himself.

She said, ” My husband went out to watch a football match last night and stayed till 11pm and when he came back home, he ate, we chatted, prayed together and he went to bed without any  sign.

“Though he is financially indebted, I have been paying the debt for the loan he took from a micro finance bank. So I don’t understand why he hung himself.

“I woke up to urinate and discovered that the  cloth I used to cover our two year-old child was missing, only to find out that it was the cloth my husband used to hang himself.”

The Divisional Officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, in Olorunda Local Government Area, Mr. Babatunde Ojeniyi, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the telephone.

He said, ” We have informed the Water and Environmental  Department at the Local Government Area, whose responsibility it is to remove the corpse. But we were told that certain traditional rites would have to be performed before the body would be lowered.”

Man hangs self over N18,000 loan

Edo State: Gynecologist, MD may have committed suicide

Dr. John Abode who was found dead in his wardrobe last Thursday in Benin may have taken his life, a security source has disclosed.

The 48-year-old Chief consultant Gynecologist and Managing Director of Hope Medical Centre in Edo state had attempt suicide on several occasions but halted by his wife, now widow.

Information gathered revealed that the doctor had injected himself with some unknown substance before heading to wardrobe where he was found hanged.

 

The doctor picked a perfect day to commit suicide by allowing his wife to go to church service. It was gathered that the wife called home, instructed her 10-year old son to fetch his father that she wanted to discuss with him.

The child was said to have searched everywhere in the house but to no avail until he was found dead in his wardrobe.

It es learned that the doctor’s wife rushed home in an attempt to revive her husband but was too late.

 

Investigation by vanguard revealed that the wife had earlier informed the family of her husband on the attempted suicide in the past, which made the wife to be more committed to attending church services if it will find a lasting solution to her husband’s problems.

It was further gathered that though the deceased, who also is a staff of the Stella Obasanjo Women and Children Hospital in Benin City, was a successful gynaecologist, his alleged occasional erratic behaviour at home had been a source of great concern to the wife, who had always counselled him against his urge to commit suicide.

Though the deceased’s family is suspecting foul play, autopsy results so far indicated that the deceased died as a result of cessation, mostly caused by suicide. However, the family of the deceased called for another autopsy which is being conducted in Lagos.

 

Edo State: Gynecologist, MD may have committed suicide

Female suicide bomber kills 7, injures 26 in Yobe

No fewer than seven people were killed and 26 others injured on Saturday when a female suicide bomber detonated an Improvised Explosive Device at the entrance of the Damaturu Central Motor Park in Yobe.

Garba Fika, ​a ​Medical Director, Sani Abacha General Hospital, Damaturu​,​ gave the figure while briefing Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam about the condition of the victims on Saturday in Damaturu.

“We received a total of 33 victims of bomb blast that occurred an hour ago; all of them sustained various degree of injuries, out of which seven are dead, while seven are under a very critical condition,” he said.

“We might refer those under critical condition to the Federal Medical Centre, Nguru and Federal Medical Centre Azare in Bauchi State respectively.

“Already, the Yobe State government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with these health institutions, in case of emergency of this nature.”

The medical director, however, said that the victims with mild injuries were responding to treatment and would be discharged soon.

He assured the governor that the management of the hospital had mobilised all medical personnel needed to ensure that the victims received proper medical attention.

Mr. Fika called on the resident of Damaturu to donate blood in order to save the lives of the victims, stressing that they were in dire need of blood .

Responding, Mr. Gaidam condemned the incident , describing it as “very unfortunate”​.​

He commiserated with the families of the victims and prayed for the repose of the souls of those who died as a result of the incident.

The governor, who promised to settle the medical bills of all the victims, expressed optimism that insurgency would soon be a thing of the past in the country.

Mr. Gaidam advised people to be security conscious, report any suspicious movement around them, and cooperate with the security agents to enable them discharge their duties effectively.

As at the time of filing the report, the police ​wer​e yet to issue any statement on the incident.

Contacted on telephone for his comments , the Yobe Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Toyin Gbadageshan, said he was out of town, wh​ile​ the telephone lines of the Police Commissioner, were not going through.

(NAN)

Female suicide bomber kills 7, injures 26 in Yobe

My husband committed suicide, says arrested widow of award-winning pharmacist

Mrs Busayo Olafare, the widow of Paul Olafare, who allegedly committed suicide, weekend, in his Oworonsoki home in Lagos, has denied culpability in his husband’s death, saying he took poison.

News of the death of the father of two filtered in Sunday. But there were different accounts on the circumstance that led to his demise.

A version of the account had it that he poisoned himself, following an unpaid loan he took to set up his own pharmacy.

It was also reported that late Olafare, who was awarded Lagos State Pharmacist of the Year 2013, had on several occasions attempted to take his life before Sunday. One of the foiled attempts, as gathered, was his intention to jump into the lagoon from the Third Mainland Bridge.

Also, a close friend of late Olafare (names withheld) reportedly disclosed that the deceased had, last Thursday, sent a text message to his wife advising her to remarry and take care of their two children should any harm befall him.

Dissatisfied with claims that their son committed suicide, the bereaved parents were said to have lodged a complaint to the Police at Oworoshoki, following which Mrs Olafare was arrested.

However, in her statement to the Police, she maintained that her husband committed suicide.

Police sources hinted that she claimed to have come out of the bathroom that fateful day, when she met her husband with a liquid substance in a plastic bottle, suspected to be pesticide.

She stated that she wanted to take the bottle from him, and in the process he informed her that there was no need to struggle with him as he had already drank the substance.

She further claimed to have rushed to the kitchen and brought palm oil, which she forced into her husband’s mouth. But by then it was too late as he reportedly began to writhe in pain before he breathed his last.

Police sources hinted that the remaining content inside the plastic had been taken for forensic examination to determine what it was. Also, an autopsy report, as gathered, would be carried out on the deceased to ascertain the exact cause of his death.

The Police source said: “It is the outcome of the result that will determine our next line of investigation. We cannot say for now if the woman killed her husband as alleged.”

Late Olafare, who was in his 30s, was a graduate of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos.

He was also a leader of the Celestial Church of Christ, Somolu Youth group, and also founded a gospel tract ministry known as The Harvesters.

 

My husband committed suicide, says arrested widow of award-winning pharmacist

Suicide bomber kills herself, five others in Yobe blast – witnesses

A young girl suicide bomber Sunday blew herself up and five others when the explosive devices strapped to her body detonated in a market in Nigeria’s northesatern city of Potiskum, witnesses said.

Nineteen others who sustained various degrees of injury were taken to hospital after the blast, a local vigilante leader told AFP.

“So far, five people were killed with the girl while 19 others have been taken to hospital for injuries,” Buba Lawan said. Witnesses said she appeared to be as young as seven-years-old.

 

Suicide bomber kills herself, five others in Yobe blast – witnesses

Man, 24, commits suicide in church

By Dayo Johnson

Akure—A 24-year-old man, Lanre Falodu, has reportedly committed suicide in a church premises in Owo area of Ondo State, where he was taken for deliverance.

Suicide

The deceased brother, Tunde, according to a police source, took him to the church located at Imola area of Owo to seek spiritual solution to his problem.

It was learned that the deceased, who had been in church for some time, reportedly escaped at about 5:30a.m. on the ill-fated day.

He was said to have hung himself on a tree within the church premises.

His lifeless body was discovered by the pastor of the church, who informed Police in Owo.

A team of homicide detectives was dispatched to the scene, where the deceased’s body was removed and deposited at Owo General Hospital morgue.

Ondo State Police Command imagemaker, Wole Ogodo, said the matter had not been reported at the state police command in Akure, but promised to contact Owo Divisional Police Officer, DPO.

In another development, an aged woman reportedly committed suicide at Idanre area of the state.

Police imagemaker said the woman, believed to be mentally sick, poured petrol on her body, set herself ablaze and died before help could reach her.

Ogodo said the corpse had been deposited in a mortuary.

But a police source in Owo said the pastor of the church and father of the deceased had been questioned.

He confided in Vanguard that the deceased might have some mental challenge hence his sojourn in the church for spiritual deliverance.

The state police command has insisted in conducting the autopsy to ascertain the cause of his death.

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Man, 24, commits suicide in church

Man commits suicide over N1,000 in Ebonyi

By Peter Okutu

ABAKALIKI—A 32-year-old man, Mr. Simon Mbam, of Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State has committed suicide after he was tortured by some villagers for allegedly stealing N1,000 from a shop in the market.

The victim, who jumped into a pond in the area last weekend, found himself in the mess when he left his house in the evening of the fateful day

Suicide

to buy drinks with his friends.

While late Simon and his friends were busy sipping their drinks, the owner of the shop raised an alarm over a missing N1,000 in his carton of drinks, but no customer admitted to haven taken the money.

The alarm raised by the shop owner attracted villagers who stormed the scene and gave the suspects till the following day to return the money or face the consequences.

It was learned that the said missing money was found at the door step of the shop, but when the villagers who were determined to get to the root of the matter gathered, the owner of the shop insisted on knowing the person behind the act.

Vanguard further gathered that the suspect, who later confessed to the crime, was allegedly beaten by the irate villagers until he started bleeding and losing consciousness.

They demanded that he should be treated like a thief, even as he was fined two goats, two crates of beer and N5,000, which were immediately provided by the suspect’s mother (names withheld).

It was gathered that the village head rejected what the suspect’s mother brought, insisting that an additional N5,000 should be provided so that the matter would be completely resolved without involving the police.

This second demand by the villagers made the suspect, who felt humiliated by the entire process, escape from his captors and jumped into Aku Pond, which was not far from the market square.

All efforts to rescue him on time proved abortive as he drowned before his body was retrieved by the villagers.

Meanwhile, four persons including the village head, had been arrested by the police after the mother of the victim reported the matter.

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Man commits suicide over N1,000 in Ebonyi

Man commits suicide after losing money to ex-lover

ABEOKUTA— A middle-aged man, Samsideen Akinwunmi, has reportedly committed suicide in Abeokuta after being duped by his concubine.

Suicide

Akinwunmi, a carpenter, was said to have been found dead after allegedly hanging himself on a ceiling fan in his room located at Aboaba Street, Itori-Odo, Abeokuta.

A source told Vanguard that the incident occurred on Saturday.

The source further said that he saw Akinwunmi at about 2:45 pm on Saturday when he sent all his children on errand before killing himself.

According to the source, the deceased left a suicide note which explained why he killed himself.

“He indicated that his estranged lover had duped him of millions of Naira and that he had to kill himself.

Reacting to the incident, a community leader and Alapinni of Egbaland, Chief Omolaso Ojedele, saidit was a tragedy.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Muyiwa Adejobi, could not be reached for reaction. It was, however, gathered that the Police had taken the corpse away.

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Man commits suicide after losing money to ex-lover

17-year-girl attempt suicide over mother"s decision to stop her boyfriend

A 17-year old girl, Rahila Joshua, has attempted to commit suicide by swallowing rat poison, because her mother was against her friendship with her boyfriend, Yakubu Abu.

The incident, which happened around 1:30p.m, on Friday, at Akunza-Maigili in Agyaragu, Jenkwe Development Area of Nasarawa State, was said to have thrown the entire community into palpable fear, before she was rushed to the nearby clinic and later transferred to Police Clinic on Lafia-Jos road in Lafia, the state capital.

Informed family sources told the Nigerian Tribune, on Monday, that the victim’s mother, had always been warning her to stay away from Abu and even vowed not to allow her to marry him.

Investigations further revealed that the victim was beaten when her mother saw her with Abu hence she resorted into swallowing poisonous substance.

According to one of the witnesses, “she loves the guy and her mother was not in support of that friendship, but she insisted on marrying the boy. On that fateful day, her mother again beat her because of the guy, so she decided to swallow rat poison, which made her to become unconscious before she was rescued by the police.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Ismaila Numan, who confirmed the incident at the police headquarters, added that she was rescued by Detective Benedict Patrick to Police Clinic and that part of the rat poison was recovered from her.

In a related development, a traffic warden, Peter Sunday alongside his wife, Catherine, might be charged to court by the state police command for alleged falsehood information to the police.

Credible police source confided to the Nigerian Tribune that the officer, who was residing at Millionaire quarters in Lafia Local Government Area of the state, rushed her wife to the Police Clinic on the pretext that his wife drank poisonous substance known as Ota-Piapia.

According to informed senior police source, the traffic warden attached to M.T.D Division, Lafia, went to B Division Police Station, Millionaire quarters at about 0200 hrs and reported that his wife wanted to commit suicide by taking poisonous substance.

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17-year-girl attempt suicide over mother"s decision to stop her boyfriend

Father commits suicide 4 days to daughter’s wedding

ABA—The immediate family and relations of Chief Samuel Omeonu Ezengwa, a village head in Umunkita, Nenu Autonomous Community in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, have been thrown into shock after the head of the family and a village head in the community allegedly committed suicide by hanging four days to the daughter’s traditional wedding.

A source in the area said the body of the village head was discovered hanging on a tree at about 7am Wednesday by a member of his family who had gone out that morning.

Suicide

Though it was not known his reasons for committing suicide, Vanguard gathered that the incident has put on hold the deceased daughter’s traditional marriage billed to hold on Sunday, August 3.

A family source said the night before the unfortunate incident, he had had an intensive discussion with the deceased over his daughter’s traditional marriage coming up at the weekend, adding that  the deceased never showed any sign of depression which had been attributed as a major cause of the incident.

Sources said on hearing of the incident, the Eastern Ngwa Police Division drafted their men to the area where they had a close session with the immediate family and later left the compound with the man’s body still hanging on the tree.

A villager who spoke on anonymity, said the body of the deceased could only be brought down for burial after some rituals had been performed as demanded by their custom, describing the state of the man’s death as one of the things that “is highly” prohibited by their traditional belief.

Members of the family were said to have been in deep shock over the incident and could not speak publicly on the issue.

Some reports, which were yet to be verified at press time, have it that the victim committed suicide after the community had written the family inviting them to explain what they knew about an alleged financial embezzlement on an electrification project in the community, an amount some said would be too much for them to repay.

Efforts to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer failed as he did not pick calls pull through his phone but a reliable police source confirmed the incident.

 

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Father commits suicide 4 days to daughter’s wedding

21-yr-old student commits suicide after being jilted by lover

By Emma Una

FRIENDS and family members of a 21-year-old student of Maritime Academy Oron, Effiong Otu are at a loss why he committed suicide by hanging himself on a rope in his room on Thursday morning after he was jilted by his girl friend.

Ann, a family member told Vanguard that Effiong was found hanging in his room at Diamond Hill, a few minutes after he collected a rope from neighbours who became suspicious soon after he went   inside his room with the rope wondering what he wanted to use it for.

According to the source, when his mother Grace Otu, a nurse at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital   left the house at about 3pm on that fateful day, the young man borrowed a rope and killed himself.

According Ann: “The 10th of July was the 10th anniversary of his father’s death in a car accident and after the anniversary and everyone had left the house including his mother, he went to a neighbour and borrowed a rope which he took to his room and hung himself.”

Ann said: “The neighbours became suspicious of what he was doing in his room with the rope and decided to rush there but found the door to the room locked and before they could force the door open he had died.”

She said before he hung himself, he called one of his friends, Adu on phone requesting him to tell his girl friend, Blessing who works with the UNICEM that she should now be happy that he has killed himself for her.

“Before his friend could rush to the house, the door had already been forced open by neighbours and Effiong’s body was hanging from the ceiling of the house”.

Ann stated that Effiong was an only son of the family and was given the late father’s name as a source of succor for the family but “he has again left us by this thoughtless action”

Perhaps to give an inkling of his planned action , Effiong had posted his face book page on the 6th of July the following message “It’s not about being engaged, married or in a relationship. It’s about being happy, safe, secured, relieved and feeling good. It’s about peaceful state of mind, it’s about sleeping at night without the fear of losing what you’ve got.

It’s being yourself and not someone else, it’s about feeling loved, happy, respected, understood, cared for and appreciated.! Goodnight my beautiful people!!

Efforts to speak with Hogan Bassey, the Cross River State Police Public Relations Officer did not yield any success as his phone was switched off. Effiong’s body has been removed and de[posited at the mortuary of the General Hospital, Calabar.

 

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21-yr-old student commits suicide after being jilted by lover

Law student commits suicide

A 30-year-old student of the Nigerian Law School, Abuja, Auwal Haruna, allegedly committed suicide on Monday by hanging himself on the ceiling fan in his hotel room in Takum.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Joseph Kwaji, confirmed the incident to newsmen in Jalingo on Monday, saying the matter was under investigation.

According to him, the body of the deceased was found dangling from a ceiling fan at Mairiga Guest Inn, Takum.

He said the deceased, until his death, was a suspect in a case of murder involving his younger brother, Ahmed, who allegedly connived with their mother, Aisha, to murder their father, Haruna Mohammed.

He said that the deceased’s brother (Ahmed), 27, was being detained for abducting and hanging his father to death in the suburb of Gembu over his father’s alleged marriage of a second wife against the wishes of his wife.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that there is an upsurge in suicide cases in Taraba.

Kwaji attributed the increase in cases of suicide to drug abuse and frustration.

“Most of these young men commit suicide as a result of drug abuse and frustration in life.

“Suicide is not the solution to our problems. Killing oneself is not only contrary to the laws of the land, but also against our religions,’’ Kwaji said.

NAN recalls that two incidents of suicide were recorded in Jalingo in February.

One involved a 400 Level student of the Taraba University, Friday Samson, 32, who poisoned himself to death over lack of funds to pay his school fees.

The other incident involved a watchman, Saidu Babura, 45, who hung himself on a tree at Hassan Primary School, Jalingo, after an alleged battle against drug abuse.

In January, 21 year-old Mansur Tanko burnt himself to death in Jalingo because his father, Tanko Mijinyawa, allegedly refused to approve of his plan to marry.

Law student commits suicide